Women's Ice Hockey Snaps Three Game Skid With 1-0 Win Over UConn

Storrs, CT -
A first period power play goal was all the Bears (4-7-1) needed, as they went on to defeat UConn 1-0 this evening in Storrs, CT, snapping a three game skid. Senior Ashlee Drover (Bay Roberts, NF) netted what proved to be the game winning goal with 4:15, to go in the first for her first goal of the season.

In a defensive battle for the first twenty minutes, UConn tested the Brown defense and sophomore goaltender O'Hara Shipe (Anchorage, AK) early on, out shooting the Bears 11-7 in the opening frame. With 15:11 to go in the period, Huskies' Nicole Tritter snapped a quick shot, point blank at the Brown net. Shipe kept the puck out of net, diving to her right side knocking it to the boards and having it cleared out by junior Lauren Deeb (Menands, NY). With less than ten minutes remaining in the opening stanza, a UConn forward intercepted a pass by Drover and skated in on Shipe, firing a hard low wrist shot. Shipe turned the shot away, but Jennifer Houlden was there to pick up the rebound with a wide open net in front of her. Shipe made a quick move to her right stopping the puck and keeping the Huskies off the board.

With Brown on a power play late in the first, Drover took a rebound from behind the net and wrapped around the left side of the UConn net, slamming the puck past Kaitlyn Shain for her first goal of the season and the early 1-0 lead. Sophomore Hayley Moore (Wakefield, MA) and junior Kathryn Moos (Wayzata, MN) were credited with the assists on Drover's goal.

Brown dominated the first half of the second period, keeping the pressure on the UConn defenders as they looked to pad their lead to two goals. On their second power play of the game, the Bears moved the puck along the perimeter and senior Myria Heinhuis (Chatham, ONT) slapped a hard shot from the point towards traffic in front of the Huskies' net. The puck bounced around and was finally cleared out by UConn ending the threat. With less then three minutes to go in the period, Janelle Armitage blocked a shot and picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone and skated into the Bear's zone. Shipe came out of the net trying to clear the puck, but could not get under it out to knock it out of the zone, giving Armitage a chance to knot the score. Armitage slid a shot towards the wide open net, but freshman Morgan Hanrahan (Bay Roberts, NF) skated hard down center ice and hit the puck out of danger to keep the lead at 1-0 in Brown's favor going into the second intermission.

The Huskies pressured the Bear defense and Shipe looking for the equalize in the final period, but both Shipe and the defense rose to the occasion holding the Huskies off the board. With 1:59 remaining in the game UConn pulled their goalie to get the extra skater on the ice. Shipe under a barrage of shots kept everything out of the back of the net to preserve the win for the Bear. Shipe finished the game with 29 saves in her second win of the season.

The Bears will take the rest of December off and will return to action Friday January 6, when they host Quinnipiac at 7:00 PM in an ECACHL match-up.